System and method for generating origin-independent access maps

ABSTRACT

A method includes: selecting a set of access points in a focus zone that identifies an area around the travel destination; determining access paths through one or more access points in the set of selected access points; listing crossings that the access paths pass through; for each of the listed crossings: determining a probability that the listed crossing is passed through by an access path; determining at least one complexity score of the listed crossing; determining a set of points of interest (POIs) along access paths passing through the listed crossing; and determining quality scores for the POIs, respectively, the quality score of one of the POIs reflecting a utility of that one of the POIs to facilitate orientation; selecting POIs from the set of POIs based on the quality scores; generating the access map including the access paths and the selected POIs; and outputting the access map.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of European Patent Application No.EP19305694.2, filed on May 29, 2019. The entire disclosure of theapplication referenced above is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The field of this invention is that of digital map generation. Moreparticularly, the invention concerns systems and methods for generatingaccess maps for a given destination using Points of Interest (POI) tofacilitate orientation and wayfinding (e.g., by disambiguating complexcrossings) without the need of specifying a starting location.

BACKGROUND

Points of Interest or POIs include landmarks and are elements that aidorientation and wayfinding. It is usual to use landmarks to provide pathguiding instructions and to indicate them in access maps. POIs helppeople on the move constructing a mental representation of an unfamiliarenvironment in advance and prepare them cognitively to get throughdifficult or uncertain parts of that environment. Furthermore, forpeople knowing a city, recognizing POIs on a map may help to localizethe destination. It is therefore critical to properly select andintegrate appropriate landmarks in navigational supports.

Given the prominent role POIs have in human communication, an importantarea of research has recently developed in the domain of automatednavigation assistance that aims at programmatically exploiting landmarksto “humanize” navigation support.

Navigation support to a destination may be provided by: providing agiven user, coming from one specific location, with information abouthow to reach the destination; or, in a more generic way, by providinganyone within a region with an access map containing information abouthow to reach the destination. This may be the case for an owner of POIattraction, wishing to generally advert the POI.

Navigation support can be provided at different scales, starting from ahigh level (i.e., with little precision) to provide an overview on thesituation of the destination, and successively moving to more detailedlevels to become practical and operational. Different levels of detailsare therefore needed within an access map.

More details may be needed around the destination whereas less detailsare required for long homogeneous segments (e.g., a long distance on ahighway). Using and integrating different levels of precision isdifficult to do programmatically. Access maps are generally generatedfrom geographic maps which display a region at a single homogeneousscale. Depending on their scale, geographic maps may include selectedcorresponding structural elements like roads, green areas and majorbuildings like stadiums and churches. With increasing scale, theyinclude more and more details and commercial POIs like restaurants orshops.

Selecting the optimal set of elements to be included in a map in orderto help the user grasp the location of the destination is difficult. Onthe one hand, too many elements may be selected, which create clutter onthe map and may distract the user from the relevant elements. On theother hand, relevant elements may not be part of the automatic selectionand thus may be missing, not being included in the map.

To improve an access map with a set of POIs, once the critical locationsare identified the optimal set of POIs that best disambiguate theselocations may be selected and added to the map. To this aim, variousparameters can be used, such as POI typicality, unicity, durability,visibility, or relevance with respect to the particular transportationmode or user. These POIs may be indentified based on detailedinformation about each instance (e.g. visuals) or a computed similaritybased on a POIs position with respect to the decision point and itsconfiguration and to the POI category.

SUMMARY

One general aim of the invention is to provide a method to generate anaccess map to a destination. The access map can be used by anyone, withno need of any indication on the origin where the user starts with alarge range of possible distances to the destination. The methodproposed addresses all or parts of the drawbacks of approaches proposedin the prior art. It allows both route simplification and the use ofrelevant POIs selected. It facilitates orientation for the user anddisambiguates complex crossings. To this aim and according to one aspectof the present application, it is proposed a method, using a one or moreprocessors executing code, to generate access maps for a givendestination, including points of interest (POIs).

It avoids the need to specify an origin and relies instead on accesspoints (e.g., facilities that allows a change of transportation mode,such as bus stations, carparks, metro stations, train stations,airports, bike stands, gondola stations, etc.) and access paths (e.g.,paths through access points in and out of a focus zone (e.g., a zonethat identifies an area around a travel destination)) for guiding usersto a travel destination.

Accordingly, proposed is a method, using one or more processorsexecuting code, to generate an access map for reaching, independent oforigin, a travel destination, the method comprising the following steps:a) Selecting a set of access points in a focus zone that identifies anarea around the travel destination; b) Computing access paths in and outof the travel destination through one or more access points in the setof selected access points; c) Listing crossings that the computed accesspaths pass through; d) For each listed crossing, i/ evaluating theprobability that the listed crossing is passed through by an access pathand calculating at least one complexity rating; ii/ determining a set ofPOIs along the roads passing through the listed crossing and calculatinga quality score for each of POI in the set of POIs, the score for eachPOI in the set of POIs scoring its utility to facilitate orientation;iii/ selecting POIs from the set of POIs based on their quality scores;e) Generating the access map including the access paths and the selectedPOIs; f) Outputting the generated access map.

For this purpose, the selecting of step a) can further comprise thefollowing sub-steps: i) Listing existing access points which are in thefocus zone around the destination, ii) For each access point in thegiven focus zone, computing a quality score characterizing its relevancyfor the user as a function of various parameters associated with theaccess point, iii) Selecting the best access points of access pointsaccording to their scores.

The computation of the scores can be a function of at least thefollowing parameters: the type of transportation through which theaccess point can be reached, the access point distance to thedestination, and if the access point is public transportation, thenumber of transportation lines through which it can be reached or, ifthe access point is a parking facility, its capacity.

Additionally, the access points can be categorized according to the typeof transportation through which the access point can be reached andwhere at least one access point is selected in sub-step ii) of step a),for each type of transportation considered as relevant.

In a particular embodiment, the probability that a given crossing ispassed through by at least one access path is calculated as the ratio ofthe number of access paths traveling through the crossing and the totalnumber of access paths in the focus zone.

For a given access path, a complexity score of a crossing can becalculated as a function of at least the following parameters: Thenumber roads at the crossing; The need to change direction in thecrossing.

The presence of at least a confusing road, which is a road near theoutbound road of the access path forming an angle smaller than a giventhreshold with the outbound road of the access path.

The method can further comprise the computation of a quality score of aPOI which is a building or which is hosted in a building. The qualityscore being a function of a saliency score based on the followingparameters: the length of the facade of the building on the map; thedistance of the closest point of the facade to the crossing; the heightof the building.

Further, POIs can be categorized in different types, and saliency scorescan be assigned to the types of POIs and where the quality score of agiven point of interest (POI) belonging to one of the types is afunction of the saliency score assigned to at least one type of POI.

In addition, the selection of POIs for a given crossing can be performedthrough the following sub-steps: Listing all POIs within a givendistance from the crossing; Computing a bounding box around the outboundroad of the access path, the bounding box having a given lengthcorresponding to a visibility range from the crossing and a given widthso as to include the buildings on each side of the road; Selecting thePOIs within the bounding box; Computing a quality score being thesaliency score of the POIs multiplied by a weight; Selecting the POIsaccording to their quality score.

The weight applied to the saliency score of a POI to compute the qualityscore of the POI depends on whether the POI is located in the inboundroad, the outbound road or another road of the crossing, the weight isused to promote POIs located in the outbound road of the access path andpenalize POIs not belonging to the access path.

The selection of the POIs to display on the map, can be done byiterating through the following steps until the number of POI reachesthe specification of the user, starting with a list of crossingscontaining all the crossings passed through in at least one access path:1/ Normalizing the POIs quality scores across the map; 2/ Normalizingthe complexity score of the crossings in the list across the map; 3/ foreach crossing where a POI appears, summing the product of the crossingprobability, the normalized crossing complexity and the normalizedquality score of the POIs; 4/ Selecting the POI with the highest sum inorder to display it on the map; 5/ Remove the crossing associated withthe selected POI from the list of crossings; 6/ Returning to 1/.

The method can further include the following for the generation of anaccess map including the access paths and relevant POIs: Representingthe destination on the map; Representing the selected POIs on the mapand adding information about the nature of the POI; Representing theselected transportation access points on the map; Representing theunused features of the map as background, such as un-passed throughroads, non-POI parks or squares; Highlighting roads passed through in atleast one access path; Highlighting transportation lines in the focuszone that goes through at least one selected transportation accesspoint; Highlighting transportation lines outside the focus zone whenthey link a main access point to a selected transportation access pointinside the focus zone.

According to complementary aspects, the invention provides a computerprogram product, comprising code instructions to execute a methodaccording to the previously described aspects for generating a humanizedaccess map; and a computer-readable medium, on which is stored acomputer program product comprising code instructions for generating ahumanized access map.

In a feature, a method of generating an access map for reaching,independent of origin, a travel destination is described. The methodincludes: by one or more processors, selecting a set of access points ina focus zone that identifies an area around the travel destination; bythe one or more processors, determining access paths to and from thetravel destination through one or more access points in the set ofselected access points; by the one or more processors, listing crossingsthat the determined access paths pass through; by the one or moreprocessors, for each of the listed crossings: determining a probabilitythat the listed crossing is passed through by an access path;determining at least one complexity score of the listed crossing;determining a set of points of interest (POIs) along access pathspassing through the listed crossing; and determining quality scores forthe POIs, respectively, of the set of POIs, the quality score of one ofthe POIs reflecting a utility of that one of the POIs to facilitateorientation; by the one or more processors, selecting POIs from the setof POIs based on the quality scores of the POIs, respectively; by theone or more processors, generating the access map including the accesspaths and the selected POIs; and by the one or more processors,outputting the access map.

In further features, selecting a set of access points includes: listingall access points which are in the focus zone around the traveldestination; determining quality scores for the access points in thefocus zone, respectively, the quality score of an access pointindicative of a relevance of the access point to a user in navigating tothe travel destination; and selecting a predetermined number of theaccess points with the highest quality scores as the set of accesspoints.

In further features, determining the quality scores includes determiningthe quality score for an access point based on: a type of transportationthrough which the access point can be reached; a distance between theaccess point and the travel destination; and if the access point ispublic transportation, a number of public transportation lines throughwhich the access point can be reached.

In further features, determining the quality scores includes determiningthe quality score for an access point based on: a type of transportationthrough which the access point can be reached; a distance between theaccess point and the travel destination; and if the access point is aparking facility, a vehicle capacity of the parking facility.

In further features, determining the quality score of an access pointincludes determining the quality score of the access point based on atype of transportation usable to reach the access point.

In further features, determining a probability that the listed crossingis passed through by an access path includes setting the probabilitybased on a ratio of a number of access paths traveling through thecrossing to a total number of access paths in the focus zone.

In further features, determining the complexity score of a listedcrossing includes determining the complexity score of the listedcrossing based on: a number roads at the listed crossing; and a need tochange direction at the crossing.

In further features, determining the complexity score of a listedcrossing includes determining the complexity score of the listedcrossing based on whether an outbound access path at the listed crossingforms an angle that is less than a predetermined angle relative to aninbound access path used to reach the listed crossing.

In further features, determining a set of POIs along access pathspassing through the listed crossing includes adding a building locatedwithin a predetermined distance of the listed crossing to the set ofPOIs.

In further features: determining the quality score of the buildingincludes determining the quality score of the building based on asaliency score of the building; and the method further includesdetermining the saliency score of the building based on characteristicsof the building.

In further features, the method further includes determining thesaliency score of the building based on: a length of a facade of thebuilding; a distance between a closest point of the facade and thelisted crossing; and a height of the building.

In further features: determining quality scores for the POIs includesdetermining the quality score of a POI based on a saliency score of thePOI; and the method further includes determining the saliency score ofthe POI based on a type of the POI.

In further features, generating the access map further includes addingpredetermined POIs stored in memory to the access map.

In further features, generating the access map further includes addinggraphical representations of the predetermined POIs to the access map.

In further features, determining a set of POIs along access pathspassing through the listed crossing includes: listing all POIs within apredetermined distance from the listed crossing; determining a boundingbox around an outbound access path of the listed crossing, the boundingbox having a predetermined length corresponding to a visibility rangefrom the listed crossing and a predetermined width to include buildingson each side of the outbound access path; selecting ones of POIs thelisted within the bounding box; determining the quality scores of theselected ones of the POIs listed within the bounding box; and selectingPOIs from the selected ones of the POIs listed within the bounding boxbased on the quality scores for the set of POIs.

In further features, determining the quality scores of the selected onesof the POIs listed within the bounding box includes determining thequality score of a selected one of the POIs listed within the boundingbox based on whether the selected one of the POIs listed within thebounding box is located on an inbound path of the crossing, an outboundpath of the crossing, or another type of path of the crossing.

In further features, determining the quality score of the selected oneof the POIs listed within the bounding box includes: setting the qualityscore of the selected one of the POIs listed within the bounding box toa first score when the selected one of the POIs listed within thebounding box is located on an outbound path of the crossing; and settingthe quality score of the selected one of the POIs listed within thebounding box to a second score when the selected one of the POIs listedwithin the bounding box is located on an inbound path of the crossing,where the first score is greater than the second score.

In further features, outputting the access map includes at least one of:displaying the access map on a display; and outputting information ofthe access map via a speaker.

In further features, selecting POIs from the set of POIs based on thequality scores of the POIs, respectively, includes selecting k of thePOIs from the set of POIs having the k highest quality scores,respectively, where k is an integer greater than two.

In further features, generating the access map includes: representingthe access paths and the selected POIs on the access map; representingthe travel destination on the access map; representing transportationaccess points on the access map; highlighting paths passing through atleast one of the access paths; and not highlighting paths that do notpass through at least one of the access paths.

In a feature, a system for generating an access map for reaching,independent of origin, a travel destination is described. The systemincludes: one or more processors; and memory including code that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, perform functions comprising:selecting a set of access points in a focus zone that identifies an areaaround the travel destination; determining access paths to and from thetravel destination through one or more access points in the set ofselected access points; listing crossings that the determined accesspaths pass through; for each of the listed crossings: determining aprobability that the listed crossing is passed through by an accesspath; determining at least one complexity score of the listed crossing;determining a set of points of interest (POIs) along access pathspassing through the listed crossing; and determining quality scores forthe POIs, respectively, of the set of POIs, the quality score of one ofthe POIs reflecting a utility of that one of the POIs to facilitateorientation; selecting POIs from the set of POIs based on the qualityscores of the POIs, respectively; generating the access map includingthe access paths and the selected POIs; and outputting the access map.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description, the claims and the drawings. Thedetailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of this inventionwill be apparent in the following detailed description of anillustrative embodiment thereof, which is to be read in connection withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of architecture in which the methodaccording to the invention can performed;

FIG. 2 represents an example method used to generate access maps;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of access map generated by the method;

FIG. 4 represents an example method used to select access points insidea focus zone;

FIG. 5 represents an example method used to evaluate the POIs; and

FIG. 6 represents an example method used to select the best POIs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The access map generation method presented hereunder provides a userwith an access map to reach a given destination point (location). Theaccess map allows a zoom effect on a focus zone around the destinationpoint. With the zoom effect, the user is provided with enoughinformation to help guidance in the focus zone (i.e., an area around adestination, e.g., the last mile or miles of pedestrian, bike, orvehicular navigation), while at the same time keeping the context acrossthe full map.

Architecture and General Context

The methods described herein may be performed within a systemarchitecture such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, which includes twoservers 15 and 20 and a computing device 10. The servers 15 and 20 andthe computing device 10 communicate over a network 30 (which may bewireless and/or wired) such as the Internet for data exchange. Eachserver 15 and 20 and the computing device 10 include a data processor(11 a, 11 c, and 11 b, respectively) and memory (12 a, 12 c, and 12 b,respectively) such as a hard disk. The methods described herein may beperformed by one or more processors, such as one or more of theprocessors 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c, by executing code stored in memory.While the servers 15 and 20 and the computing device 10 are illustratedas including one processor, two or more processors may be included.

The server 15 may be a map server, which can be for example an externalservice accessible by an application programming interface (API), suchas Open Street Map (OSM).

The server 20 may be a processing server, using data received from theserver 15 over the communication network 30 to generate an access map.

The computing device 10 may be any device that communicates with theserver 20, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a cell phone,a tablet, a navigation system (e.g., that may be installed in a car oron a bike), a digital watch or another user wearable device, or anothersuitable type of computing device. The computing device 10 may be usedby a user (user 13 in FIG. 1) to request the generation of a givenaccess map as well as to store a generated access map and to administerits dissemination (e.g., audibly and/or visually) to final end userswhich are to use the map to reach a destination point.

The user 13 can be an individual wishing to generate an access map forthe guidance (e.g., navigation directions) to a destination point. Theuser can work an entity, such as a store, a company, a museum, etc.which needs to provide access maps to end users (e.g., clients orvisitors). The destination point may be user selected and input to thecomputing device 10.

In one embodiment, the access map generation method presented hereunderoperates on the server 20 and/or the computing device 10. Alternatively,the access map generation may operate on the computing device 10.

The two servers 15 and 20 may be merged. In various implementations, thefunctionality of the two servers 15 and 20 may be merged into astandalone computing device 10.

The access map may be generic for all users. That is, it can be used byany user, independent of a user's starting location and independent of auser's travel distance (i.e., from a user's starting location to theuser's final destination). The access map may be generated without(independent of) any starting location.

Access Map Generation

A method 100 is outlined in FIG. 2 to generate access maps, which in anexample may be performed by the one or more processors of the server 20.

As used herein, a road may mean a passage way allowing pedestriansand/or vehicles on which users travel without or with a transportationaid (such as using cars, motorcycles, bicycles, boats, rollerblades,skis, etc.) to travel between places or POIs. Roads include streets, carroads, pedestrian paths, ski runs, cycle paths, waterways, combinationsthereof. A crossing may mean a location or area at least two roads passthrough (e.g., that intersect or pass near—over, under, next to, etc.).A complexity score of a crossing may be a score (value) indicative of acomplexity of the crossing. The complexity score of a crossing may bedetermined based on the number of roads of the crossing, the geometrydefined by the roads, and/or one or more other characteristics. Acrossing may be more complex as its complexity score increases and viceversa.

A quality score of a POI may mean a score (value) indicative of arelevancy of the POI to facilitate orientation or wayfinding. Thequality score of a POI may be determined based on the access pathconsidered and on the way a crossing with direct proximity to the POI ispassed through with the access path. For example, if a crossing istraversed in more than one access path, the quality score of the POImight be higher for an access path where the POI is located on theoutbound road than for an access path where the POI is not located onthe outbound road.

Generation of the map and partition is performed at 101. At 101, thedestination (e.g., name or location, such as latitudinal andlongitudinal coordinates) is received, and the map surrounding thedestination retrieved. The destination point is provided to the server20 by the user 13 via the computing device 10. The request is formulatedthrough the computing device 10. When receiving a request, the server 20obtains from the server 15 a map comprising the destination point, aswell as map data.

The map is then partitioned by the server 20 to divide it into twoareas: a focus zone (or area); and the rest of the map, outside thefocus zone. The focus zone is determined as an area of a given radius(e.g., 1 kilometer (km), 2 km, 3 km, 5 km, etc.) around the destination.

For an access map for a destination in an urban area, the focus zonecould be set based on a walking distance around the destination (e.g.,of a 100-999 meters to a 1-5 km around the destination). Alternateaccess maps, may cover locations of interest such as a national park, ahistorical village, an amusement park, a ski resort, and bike trails.The radius of the focus zone may be determined based on the activitynear the destination and the anticipated mode of transportation a usermay experience within a focus zone. The radius of the focus zone mayadditionally or alternatively be determined based on one or more otherparameters. While the example of the radius of the focus zone isprovided, the present application is also applicable to other dimensionsand shapes of the focus zone (e.g., dimensions of a rectangle formingthe focus zone).

The method hereunder described allows higher level of details to betaken into account in the focus zone.

For the rest of the map, outside of the focus zone, a smaller level ofdetails (i.e., less details) is provided since the end user would be notbe walking, but would be traveling through public transportation, or bycar or bike for example.

Selection of access points is performed at 102. Access points may befacilities that allow a change of transportation mode, which may beconsidered waypoints, and which are used for guiding users (e.g.,visitors). For these applications, users travel with varioustransportation means (e.g., bus, tram, subway, car, bike, pedestrian,plane, waterbus, ferry etc.) and through the corresponding access points(e.g., bus stops, tram stops, subway stops, airports, car parking lots,bike parking lots, ferry landings, etc.). A change of mode of transportcan for example be a change from one transportation mode, whether public(subway, train, tram, bus, plane, ferry, etc.), semi-private (e.g.,taxi, carpool, etc.), or private (e.g., car, bike, pedestrian, etc.), toanother transportation mode.

Applications other than urban district guidance can also becontemplated, such as the generation of access maps in the countryside.In such a case, an access point can be a noticeable place that theend-user can reach, for example by vehicle. The access map provides tothe end-user preferred roads to reach the destination point from suchaccess points.

The selection of the access points may be performed by the server 20 andinvolves: selecting access points within a focus zone at 102 a, andselecting access points outside of the focus zone at 102 b.

Determining access paths is performed at 103. Once the access points areselected, the server 20 determines the access paths which allow a userto reach the destination point starting from those selected accesspoints.

Evaluation of the crossings implied in the access paths is performed at104. Once the access paths are determined, the server 20 determines onthe map the crossings which the paths traverse, and computes evaluationparameters. Examples of the evaluation parameters include probability tobe crossed and/or a complexity score. The evaluation parameters will befurther used to select POIs within the area surrounding the crossings.

Quality scores are determined/calculated at 105. The server 20 selectsPOIs which are within the area surrounding crossings within the focuszone and determines quality scores for those POIs.

Selection of POIs is performed at 106. Based on the previous evaluationof crossings and on the quality scores computed for the POIs, the server20 selects the most relevant (e.g., most useful for wayfinding) ones ofthe POIs for the access map. For example, the server 20 may select the Mones of the POIs with the M highest quality scores, where M is aninteger greater than one.

Road and POI specification is performed at 107. Based on the originalmap, roads are added, removed, and/or highlighted in the map accordingto relevance to reach the destination, and the selected POIs are drawnon the access map. The roads that may be added and highlighted connectto the destination, while roads that lead away from the destination maybe removed.

Returning the access map is performed at 108. The generated access mapis returned (transmitted) by the server 20 to the computing device 10for storage and administration to final end users. For example, thecomputing device 10 may displaying the access map on a user interface,either on its own or by augmenting additional information (e.g., ads,hyperlinks to additional information for POIs and crossings, etc.).Additionally or alternatively, the computing device 10 may audiblyoutput information regarding the access map, such as via one or morespeakers.

An example of an access map 150 generated using the method of FIG. 2 isillustrated in FIG. 3. The access map 150 includes focus zone 151,destination 152, crossings 154, selected POIs 156 (displayed in a firstcolor, such as green/a first shade of grey), predetermined POIs 157(displayed in a second color, such as blue/a second shade of grey),access paths 158 (displayed in a third color, such as red/a third shadeof grey), and example access points 159 (displayed in a fourth color,such as yellow/a fourth shade of grey).

102 to 107 shown in FIG. 2 are hereunder further detailed in the exampleof an access map for an urban district/area shown in FIG. 3 with furtherreference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

Selection of Access Points

A list of access points is retrieved by the server 20 within the mapdata received from the server 15. Two different processes may beperformed by the server 20 to determine the access points to be kept forthe map for the focus zone and for the rest of the map.

Selection of access points in the focus zone is performed at 102 a. Onemethod performed by the server 20 for determining the access points at102 a to be selected for the focus zone shown in FIG. 2 is provided inFIG. 4.

At 201, listing includes listing all existing access points andselecting among those access points corresponding to transportationaccess points in the focus zone. The server 20 also retrieves from themap data the various public transportation lines for which those accesspoints are stops.

At 202, merging includes merging related access points of the same typeor different types of transportation (e.g., tram, bus, subway). Types ofaccess points are defined by the public transportation lines to whichthey belong. For example, in merging related access points of the sametype, such as two bus stops on the same road, one for each direction,may be merged if they would appear close to each other on the visual(access) map. Merging related access points of different types oftransportation, such as a bus stop and a tram stop in the same area,where a connection may be readily made between these two types oftransportation, may be merged to indicate a connection on the visual map(e.g., similar to a transportation hub).

In this regard, the distance between two or more access points detectedby the server 20 as belonging to the same type or different types oftransportation and located on the same road, crossing, or area iscompared to a predetermined threshold (e.g., 10-100 meters) distance.The predetermined threshold distance is less than the radius of thefocus zone. The two access points are merged if the distance between thetwo access points is less than the predetermined threshold distance. Thethreshold distance can be set, for example, based on the actual zoomlevel of the map.

At 203, evaluating includes evaluating relevancy of access points bydetermining/calculating a quality score for each access point that is afunction of the following parameters that may be based on userpreferences or learned from user behavior (e.g., using locationinformation, transportation methods, etc.). The access point's type inorder to reflect the relative importance of the different transportationtypes may be used. In an example, a higher weight may be given tosubways stops. Tram stops and then car parking, bike parking zones, andbus stops may be given less important weights. The access point'sdistance to the destination may also be considered. For example, thefarther an access point is from the destination, the lower its qualityscore may be, and vice versa. For public transportation, the number oflines traveling through the access point (e.g., tram, bus, subway lines,etc.) may also be considered. For example, the greater the number oflines that go through an access point, the greater the relevancy scoreof that access point and vice versa. A capacity of the access point mayalso be considered. For example, a parking lot capacity and/or bikeparking capacity may be considered. As an example, the higher thecapacity of an access point, the higher its relevancy score may be andvice versa. As an example, the following equation can be used, forexample, to calculate the relevancy score:

${relevancy} = {\frac{1}{distance} \times {characteristic} \times {type}}$Where, characteristic is an arbitrary integer value given to somefeatures of the access point, representing user's preferences, forexample a train station where only one train line is present could begiven the value 1 whereas one where two trains line are present could begiven the value 2. Type is an integer value given to the type of accesspoint, representing user's preferences, for example a train stationcould be given a higher value (4) than a parking (3). In variousimplementations, the equation for calculating a relevancy score includesthe number of transportation lines and/or the capacity of the lines.

At 204, sorting includes sorting the access points according to theirquality score, such as highest to lowest.

At 205, selecting includes selecting at least one access point perrelevant type. When there are multiple different transportation typesavailable, some may be considered irrelevant (e.g., because atransportation type is not frequently used compared to the othertransportation types). For such irrelevant transportation types, nocorresponding hub (or access point) will be selected.

For each type of access point, the selected access point is that withthe highest relevancy score. Other access points of the same type can beadded depending on their relevancy score, until a predetermined maximumnumber of selected access points is reached. The maximum number ofselected access points can be different from one type to the other andcan for example be limited for less relevant types of transportation(car parking for example).

Adjusting at 206 includes adjusting the focus zone to be displayed tothe end-users to correspond with the farthest selected access point,with a margin of 40% for example.

Selection of access points outside of the focus zone step is performedat 102 b. Additional access points may be selected by the server 20outside of the focus zone at 102 b. Users traveling long distances to adestination often go through principal access points that are fartheraway, like railway stations or airports.

The access map may be generated to serve users traveling from fartheraway and through these principal transportation access points to reachand enter the focus zone, the last mile(s) near the destination. Inorder to select these access points, the method can find the closesttrain stations, airports, and highways (access points). However,contrary to access points in the focus zone, these access points areselected mainly just to be represented on the access map but are notused for the determination of access paths, except if they are in thefocus zone.

Determination of Access Paths

Returning to FIG. 2, at 103 all access paths from access points to thedestination in the focus zone are determined. This may be done using atrip planning algorithm, such as Open Source Routing Machine (OSRM) forOpen Street Map (OSM), implemented on the server 20.

When the trip planning algorithm determines the more than one accesspaths from an access point to the destination and the more than oneaccess paths have equal lengths within a margin, either in terms ofdistance or in terms of travel time, these multiple access paths can beused all together in the subsequent steps.

These generated access paths serve two purposes: determining the roadcrossings a user may pass through (e.g., to intersect or pass near) inthe focus zone; and highlighting the access paths on the generatedaccess map.

Determination of the Crossings Implied in the Access Paths

The method provides POI information to support navigation by adding POIinformation to crossings along access paths. Thus, the number of POIsacross the map may be limited to avoid cluttering (via too many POIs).The method may include selecting which crossings to display on the map.This may be done according to the following: computing the probabilitythat a crossing is (or will be) passed through; evaluating thecomplexity of the crossing by computing a complexity score for eachcrossing; and selecting ones of the crossings with the k highest scores,where k is an integer greater than one.

Computation of Crossing Probability

For each crossing in at least one the access paths, the server 20determines the probability of the crossing being passed through.Considering each path as equally probable, the probability may bedetermined as the number of paths traveling through the crossing dividedby the total number of paths considered, which may be represented asfollows:

${{{crossing}\mspace{14mu}{probability}} = \frac{{nb}\mspace{14mu}{path}\mspace{14mu}{going}\mspace{14mu}{through}\mspace{14mu}{crossing}}{{total}\mspace{14mu}{nb}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{path}}},$where crossing probability is the probability for the crossing, nb pathgoing through crossing is the number of paths traveling through thecrossing, and total nb of path is the total number of paths considered.In various implementations, weights may be applied to the probabilitiesaccording to the type of access point from which the access pathoriginates. For example, end users might come more often by tram andcar, and less by bus or bike. Thus, one predetermined weight (value) maybe assigned to each type of access point.Computation of Crossing Complexity

Each crossing has a level of difficulty based at least in part on (i)the physical configuration of the crossing and (ii) to the traversal ofthe crossing in terms of inbound and outbound paths. The server 20determines a crossing's complexity score based on one, more than one, orall of the following parameters: (1) the number of inbound and outboundpaths at the crossing; (2) the need to change direction in the crossing;and (3) the existence of confusing paths. Regarding (3), if around theoutbound road some other paths leave the crossing in a predeterminedangle (e.g., less than 30 degrees), there may a risk of confusion withthe direction to take. Therefore, the existence of such confusing pathsincreases the complexity score of a crossing. Regarding (1), acorresponding confusing road indicator may be set to 1 when confusingpaths exist and to 0 otherwise. For example, there is less complexity tounderstand a crossing involving 3 paths (e.g., confusing roadindicator=0), than one involving 6 paths (e.g., confusing roadindicator=1). This number may be normalized by the maximum number ofpaths observed on all considered crossings in the access map. Regarding(2), it is simpler and may not require much additional information to gostraight through a crossing than when a change in direction is required.A road change indicator may be set to 0 when the direction to followfrom the inbound path into the outbound path is straight and may be setto 1 when a turn is required.

Using the parameters above, the server 20 may determine a crossingcomplexity for each crossing in at least one access paths using theequation:complexity=normalized nb_(streets)×(1+directionChangeIndicator+confusingStreetIndicator),where complexity is the complexity score of the crossing, normalizednb_(streets) is the confusing road indicator normalized by the maximumnumber of paths observed on all considered crossings,directionChangeIndicator is the direction change indicator of thecrossing, and confusingStreetIndicator is the confusing street indicatorfor the crossing. In the case of public transportation access points,since there is no incoming path, an automatic direction change isconsidered, so the associated indicator may be set to 1. The otherparameters are still consistent.Selection of POIs

In order to select the most relevant POIs to disambiguate crossing, allof the POIs may be given a quality score as illustrated in FIG. 5 at 105by the server 20 according to the following procedure for each crossingwith a non-zero probability: 1) listing, at 301, all POIs in a closevisibility (e.g., less than a predetermined distance, such as 20 metersas an example) or selection range near a crossing; 2) selecting, at 302,the POIs, for each path segment, that may help to disambiguate a pathwith respect to a nearby crossing. 302 includes: determining a boundingbox with a length corresponding to an enlarged visibility range and awidth including a marginal width on each side of the path and keepingPOIs that are at least partially included in the visibility boundingbox. This is to select only POIs or buildings with facades that will bevisible from the crossing when looking into the path. 303 includescalculating a saliency score for all remaining POIs located in buildingsrepresenting the visual saliency of the POI, the saliency scoredepending on: the facade length of the building; the closest facadedistance to the intersection; the height of the building; the visibilityscore of the POI, depending on its category. Some categories of POIs arein general more visible than others. For example, supermarkets and shopscan be considered as more visible than a public library for instance.Thus, the visibility score may be set a priori accordingly to thisexpectation. For example, supermarket=50%, Shop/Restaurant=40%, Publiclibrary=10%. Regarding facade length, where the facade is the side ofthe building facing the path and that is almost parallel to the path(e.g., up to a predetermined maximum angle) and closer that a maximumdistance with respect to the path. If the building includes multiplePOIs, the facade length may be divided by the number of POIs. If thefacade continues outside the bounding box, only the part of the facadethat is within the bounding box may be considered. For example, thesaliency score may be calculated using the equation:

${{{saliency}\mspace{14mu}{score}} = \frac{{visibility} \times {facade}\mspace{14mu}{length} \times {height}}{distance}},$where saliency score is the saliency score, visibility is the visibilityscore, distance is the distance to the closest facade, facade length isthe facade length, and height is the height of the building.

At 304, determined are saliency scores for all POIs that are not locatedin buildings and belong to a category that is considered as worthwhilefor providing directions, in particular in locations where no other POIsare present, depending on: their distance to the intersection/crossing;the visibility score of the POI, depending on its category (e.g.,Fountain=100%, Bus/Tram stop=75%, Street advertisement=50%, Recyclebin=25%). In this example, the saliency score may be calculated usingthe equation:

${{{saliency}\mspace{14mu}{score}} = \frac{visibility}{distance}},$where saliency score is the saliency score, visibility is the visibilityscore, distance is the distance to the POI.

At 305, quality scores are determined as the product of the saliencyscore of each POI and a given weight according to the path segmentnature. If the path segment is the entrance to the traversal, then theweight applied to the saliency score may be a first predetermined weight(e.g., 40%), if it is the exit of the traversal, then the weight may bea second predetermined weight (e.g., 60%), and a third predeterminedweight (e.g., 0%) may be applied for other types of path segments.

At 306, POIs are sorted per quality score for each crossing path side,from highest to lowest. From the list of POIs obtained a predeterminednumber of POIs can then be selected. This predetermined number may be aparameter set to a predetermined value by default or set based on userinput. Since a goal may be to clarify the access map, the predeterminednumber may be set based on the size of the focus zone area, as a densityparameter. Since a crossing may have multiple complexity scores andassociated POIs with different quality scores according to traversalconfiguration (in/out path), the method may consider crossing andtraversal association where the probability to go through a transversalis the crossing probability divided by the number of transversals.

The selection of POIs is performed at 106 by iterating over thefollowing steps as illustrated in FIG. 6, where the list of remainingcrossings is initially the list of all crossings passed through in atleast one access path, and the candidate list is the list of POIs isgenerated by: 1) normalizing, at 401, POI quality scores across the mapindependently of crossings; 2) normalizing, at 402, remaining crossing'scomplexity score; 3) determining, at 403, a POI evaluation for each POI,as the product of its normalized quality score with the crossingprobability and the normalized crossing complexity, and summing thisproduct for each crossing where the same POI appears; 4) sorting, at404, POIs according to the POI evaluation (e.g., highest to lowest); 5)selecting, at 405, the POI with the best (e.g., highest) evaluation; 6)if the number of selected POI is reached (at 406), then exiting theprocedure and returning, at 409, the list of POIs selected; 7) removing,at 407, the POI selected at 405 from the candidate list; 8) removing, at408, all crossings where the selected POI appears from the remainingcrossings list, independently of the traversal. The example of FIG. 6may be repeated until the predetermined number of selected POIs isreached at 406.

The procedure above limits the number of POIs per crossing to one. Also,via the procedure above, it is possible to adjust the choice to multiplePOIs per crossing. In this example, it is possible to maintain acrossing in the candidate list if the number of POI for this crossing isnot reached and possibly reduce the crossing complexity.

Additionally, some predetermined (e.g., exceptional) POIs can be addedto the access map. These predetermined POIs may be, for example,particular POIs well known at the scale of the considered region andthat are particularly visible. An example of such a predetermined POIincludes, for example, the Eiffel Tower in the city of Paris. When oneof these predetermined POIs is present in a particular region it isalways included in the map, whether it belongs to an access path or not,as it allows the user to orient himself.

Path Simplification and Highlighting

The server 20 combines the access points, the access paths, and theselected POIs to display them on generated access map. First, all of theselected POIs are represented on the generated access map. Thedestination building is represented by a building shape with thedestination icon with a specific color. For building POIs inside thefocus zone, each POI is represented by the building shape with an iconcorresponding to the type of the POI. For non-building POIs inside thefocus zone, each POI may be represented by an icon corresponding to thetype of the POI. For predetermined or large (e.g., infrastructure) POIsoutside of the focus zone, each POI may be represented by icon or shapewith an associated description. For road directions, directional labelsmay be provided on the visual map boundary. Transportation access pointsmay be represented by icons corresponding to the transportation mode.Main access points, outside the focus zone, may have larger icons thanthe access points in the focus zone. Paths, parks and squares may bedisplayed by default in a predetermined color (e.g., grey) and in thesame size except as follows. In the focus zone, paths may be coloredaccording to their type. Important paths, such as boulevard, may bedisplayed in a predetermined color that is more visibly attractive.Secondary and tertiary paths may be displayed in predetermined colorsthat are more dull (visually less attractive). In the focus zone, pathsthat are part of trips between access points and the destination may bedisplayed with different sizes according to their type. Roads may becolored and displayed in a proper size in the visual map when theyrepresent the trip between a direction and the closest associated accesspoint, Tram and subway lines may be displayed at a predetermined sizeusing a predetermined color: inside the focus zone when they go throughthe selected transportation access points; and outside the focus zonewhen the line links a main transportation access point outside the focuszone to the access point inside the focus zone. Other lines may bedisplayed in the same size but may be displayed in a predetermined color(e.g., black) with a fading out effect from colored to black when theline goes out of the focus zone and beyond the main transportationaccess point in the visible map. On the boundary of the focus zone, atthe intersection with lines, the map may be displayed with publictransportation lines labeled.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in noway intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Thebroad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety offorms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples,the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since othermodifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, thespecification, and the following claims. It should be understood thatone or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (orconcurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure.Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as havingcertain features, any one or more of those features described withrespect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and/orcombined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if thatcombination is not explicitly described. In other words, the describedembodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or moreembodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.

Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example,between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) aredescribed using various terms, including “connected,” “engaged,”“coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and“disposed.” Unless explicitly described as being “direct,” when arelationship between first and second elements is described in the abovedisclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where noother intervening elements are present between the first and secondelements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or moreintervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally)between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase atleast one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR BOR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed tomean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”

In the figures, the direction of an arrow, as indicated by thearrowhead, generally demonstrates the flow of information (such as dataor instructions) that is of interest to the illustration. For example,when element A and element B exchange a variety of information butinformation transmitted from element A to element B is relevant to theillustration, the arrow may point from element A to element B. Thisunidirectional arrow does not imply that no other information istransmitted from element B to element A. Further, for information sentfrom element A to element B, element B may send requests for, or receiptacknowledgements of, the information to element A.

In this application, including the definitions below, the term “module”or the term “controller” may be replaced with the term “circuit.” Theterm “module” may refer to, be part of, or include: an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; afield programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit;other suitable hardware components that provide the describedfunctionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as ina system-on-chip.

The module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples,the interface circuits may include wired or wireless interfaces that areconnected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide areanetwork (WAN), or combinations thereof. The functionality of any givenmodule of the present disclosure may be distributed among multiplemodules that are connected via interface circuits. For example, multiplemodules may allow load balancing. In a further example, a server (alsoknown as remote, or cloud) module may accomplish some functionality onbehalf of a client module.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/ormicrocode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, datastructures, and/or objects. The term shared processor circuitencompasses a single processor circuit that executes some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group processor circuit encompasses aprocessor circuit that, in combination with additional processorcircuits, executes some or all code from one or more modules. Referencesto multiple processor circuits encompass multiple processor circuits ondiscrete dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiplecores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a singleprocessor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term shared memorycircuit encompasses a single memory circuit that stores some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group memory circuit encompasses amemory circuit that, in combination with additional memories, storessome or all code from one or more modules.

The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readablemedium. The term computer-readable medium, as used herein, does notencompass transitory electrical or electromagnetic signals propagatingthrough a medium (such as on a carrier wave); the term computer-readablemedium may therefore be considered tangible and non-transitory.Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory, tangible computer-readablemedium are nonvolatile memory circuits (such as a flash memory circuit,an erasable programmable read-only memory circuit, or a mask read-onlymemory circuit), volatile memory circuits (such as a static randomaccess memory circuit or a dynamic random access memory circuit),magnetic storage media (such as an analog or digital magnetic tape or ahard disk drive), and optical storage media (such as a CD, a DVD, or aBlu-ray Disc).

The apparatuses and methods described in this application may bepartially or fully implemented by a special purpose computer created byconfiguring a general purpose computer to execute one or more particularfunctions embodied in computer programs. The functional blocks,flowchart components, and other elements described above serve assoftware specifications, which can be translated into the computerprograms by the routine work of a skilled technician or programmer.

The computer programs include processor-executable code that are storedon at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium. Thecomputer programs may also include or rely on stored data. The computerprograms may encompass a basic input/output system (BIOS) that interactswith hardware of the special purpose computer, device drivers thatinteract with particular devices of the special purpose computer, one ormore operating systems, user applications, background services,background applications, etc.

The computer programs may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed,such as HTML (hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markuplanguage), or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) (ii) assembly code,(iii) object code generated from source code by a compiler, (iv) sourcecode for execution by an interpreter, (v) source code for compilationand execution by a just-in-time compiler, etc. As examples only, sourcecode may be written using syntax from languages including C, C++, C#,Objective-C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp, Java®, Fortran, Perl,Pascal, Curl, OCaml, Javascript®, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5threvision), Ada, ASP (Active Server Pages), PHP (PHP: HypertextPreprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Flash®, VisualBasic®, Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK, and Python®.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of generating an access map forreaching, independent of origin, a travel destination, the methodcomprising: by one or more processors, selecting a set of access pointsin a focus zone that identifies an area around the travel destination;by the one or more processors, determining access paths to and from thetravel destination through one or more access points in the set ofselected access points; by the one or more processors, listing crossingsthat the determined access paths pass through; by the one or moreprocessors, for each of the listed crossings: determining a probabilitythat a listed crossing is passed through by an access path; determiningat least one complexity score of the listed crossing; determining a setof points of interest (POIs) along access paths passing through thelisted crossing; and determining quality scores for the POIs,respectively, of the set of POIs, the quality score of one of the POIsreflecting a utility of that one of the POIs to facilitate orientation;by the one or more processors, selecting POIs from the set of POIs basedon the quality scores of the POIs, respectively, the complexity score ofthe listed crossing, and the probability of the listed crossing; by theone or more processors, generating the access map including the accesspaths and the selected POIs; and by the one or more processors,outputting the access map including at least one of: displaying theaccess map on a display of a computing device; and outputtinginformation of the access map via a speaker of the computing device. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the set of access pointsincludes: listing all access points which are in the focus zone aroundthe travel destination; determining quality scores for the access pointsin the focus zone, respectively, the quality score of an access pointindicative of a relevance of the access point to a user in navigating tothe travel destination; and selecting a predetermined number of theaccess points with the highest quality scores as the set of accesspoints.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the quality scoresincludes determining the quality score for an access point based on: atype of transportation through which the access point can be reached; adistance between the access point and the travel destination; and if theaccess point is public transportation, a number of public transportationlines through which the access point can be reached.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein determining the quality scores includes determining thequality score for an access point based on: a type of transportationthrough which the access point can be reached; a distance between theaccess point and the travel destination; and if the access point is aparking facility, a vehicle capacity of the parking facility.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, wherein determining the quality score of an accesspoint includes determining the quality score of the access point basedon a type of transportation usable to reach the access point.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining the probability that the listedcrossing is passed through by the access path includes setting theprobability based on a ratio of a number of access paths travelingthrough the crossing to a total number of access paths in the focuszone.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the complexity scoreof the listed crossing includes determining the complexity score of thelisted crossing based on: a number roads at the listed crossing; and aneed to change direction at the crossing.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein determining the complexity score of the listed crossing includesdetermining the complexity score of the listed crossing based on whetheran outbound access path at the listed crossing forms an angle that isless than a predetermined angle relative to an inbound access path usedto reach the listed crossing.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining the set of POIs along access paths passing through thelisted crossing includes adding a building located within apredetermined distance of the listed crossing to the set of POIs. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein: determining the quality score of thebuilding includes determining the quality score of the building based ona saliency score of the building; and the method further includesdetermining the saliency score of the building based on characteristicsof the building.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprisingdetermining the saliency score of the building based on: a length of afacade of the building; a distance between a closest point of the facadeand the listed crossing; and a height of the building.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: determining quality scores for the POIs includesdetermining the quality score of a POI based on a saliency score of thePOI; and the method further includes determining the saliency score ofthe POI based on a type of the POI.
 13. The method of claim 1, whereingenerating the access map further includes adding predetermined POIsstored in memory to the access map.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereingenerating the access map further includes adding graphicalrepresentations of the predetermined POIs to the access map.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining the set of POIs along accesspaths passing through the listed crossing includes: listing all POIswithin a predetermined distance from the listed crossing; determining abounding box around an outbound access path of the listed crossing, thebounding box having a predetermined length corresponding to a visibilityrange from the listed crossing and a predetermined width to includebuildings on each side of the outbound access path; selecting ones ofPOIs the listed within the bounding box; determining the quality scoresof the selected ones of the POIs listed within the bounding box; andselecting POIs from the selected ones of the POIs listed within thebounding box based on the quality scores for the set of POIs.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein determining the quality scores of theselected ones of the POIs listed within the bounding box includesdetermining the quality score of a selected one of the POIs listedwithin the bounding box based on whether the selected one of the POIslisted within the bounding box is located on an inbound path of thecrossing, an outbound path of the crossing, or another type of path ofthe crossing.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining thequality score of the selected one of the POIs listed within the boundingbox includes: setting the quality score of the selected one of the POIslisted within the bounding box to a first score when the selected one ofthe POIs listed within the bounding box is located on an outbound pathof the crossing; and setting the quality score of the selected one ofthe POIs listed within the bounding box to a second score when theselected one of the POIs listed within the bounding box is located on aninbound path of the crossing, wherein the first score is greater thanthe second score.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting POIs fromthe set of POIs based on the quality scores of the POIs, respectively,includes selecting k of the POIs from the set of POIs having the khighest quality scores, respectively, wherein k is an integer greaterthan two.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the access mapincludes: representing the access paths and the selected POIs on theaccess map; representing the travel destination on the access map;representing transportation access points on the access map;highlighting paths passing through at least one of the access paths; andnot highlighting paths that do not pass through at least one of theaccess paths.
 20. A system for generating an access map for reaching,independent of origin, a travel destination, the system comprising: oneor more processors; and memory including code that, when executed by theone or more processors, perform functions comprising: selecting a set ofaccess points in a focus zone that identifies an area around the traveldestination; determining access paths to and from the travel destinationthrough one or more access points in the set of selected access points;listing crossings that the determined access paths pass through; foreach of the listed crossings: determining a probability that a listedcrossing is passed through by an access path; determining at least onecomplexity score of the listed crossing; determining a set of points ofinterest (POIs) along access paths passing through the listed crossing;and determining quality scores for the POIs, respectively, of the set ofPOIs, the quality score of one of the POIs reflecting a utility of thatone of the POIs to facilitate orientation; selecting POIs from the setof POIs based on the quality scores of the POIs, respectively, thecomplexity score of the listed crossing, and the probability of thelisted crossing; generating the access map including the access pathsand the selected POIs; and outputting the access map including at leastone of: displaying the access map on a display of a computing device;and outputting information of the access map via a speaker of thecomputing device.